Reid's pov:
There were two things I hated.
One was when the house was silent. A silent house always meant that my brother Ronan was in the garage working on fixing up his bike.
The second thing was that stupid bike he spent all his time working on.
Ronan had been into motorcycles for as long as I could remember. He got his first bike when he turned 20 and drove it around constantly. That was until he crashed. He recovered as much as he could but he's not as mobile as he once was.
So yeah I hated that stupid bike. I hated every inch of it and I hated the fact that he was fixing it up.
"You want to order a pizza? I'm fucking starving." Ronan walked in from the garage his cane clicking against the floor with each step.
"Yeah that's fine, we ate the last of Tiff's leftovers last night." I nodded.
I watched his face twist at the mention of his ex girlfriends name. Tiffany and him dated for ten years before they broke up a few years back. They still didn't really talk at all but Tiffany still dropped off food for us and tried to spend as much time with me as she could. The both of them had stepped in to raise me when I was eleven and my dad went to jail. That sort of bond wasn't broken by a break up, Tiffany was my family regardless of her situation with Ronan.
"I'm getting pepperoni, if you don't want that then order your own pizza." Ronan said and then turned to grab his phone to call in the order.
There was no argument there. No negotiations, I had gotten used to it. Ronan had a thick wall around himself and he'd opened it up when Tiffany was around but then she wasn't and it was like the life was sucked out of him. I'd come home one night to see Tiffany crying on the front steps and then nothing was ever the same again. Ronan had retreated back into himself and iced everyone out. He spent most of his time in the garage working on his bike. And if he wasn't doing that he was at work or going to one of his various therapy appointments.
It hadn't been just his relationship with Tiff that he'd ruined. Whatever relationship we had changed too. It was strained and there was this constant feeling of anger that I couldn't get rid of no matter how much I tried.
"I think I'm going to go to Connor's, did you decide if you're going to go to his graduation party yet?" I called out to him.
I needed a break from this house. I needed to get out of here before dinner came and I sat there in silence wondering how it all went to shit so fast.
"Tiffany wants to go." Ronan grumbled out like that was an answer.
"I'm guessing that's a no?"
"I'm picking up an extra shift at work."
And that was that. I didn't know why I'd bothered asking because I knew he wouldn't go. Tiffany had already said she was going so I knew that meant Ronan wouldn't. Tiff didn't have a problem being around Ronan she asked about him a lot but Ronan refused to be around when she was going to be around and never dared to ask about how she was doing.
It was just another thing I let myself be angry at him for.
"I'll be back later." I told him and then slipped out of the house.
I hated myself for leaving for not being able to make things good between us. Ronan had given up a lot to take me in when I was eleven, he'd put everything else aside to raise me. I should be in that house instead of leaving him to have another dinner alone. But I also hated him for breaking up with Tiffany and making one more person leave.
It was a constant war in my head and I needed a break. I needed to get my mind off of it for a night.
Going to Connors house was a good reprieve. Ever since I showed up at his door and made things right between us things had just picked right back up. His home felt like my second home. We were family and walking through the front door gave me a sense of comfort just like it had when we were kids.
"Give it back!" A female voice yelled out.
I followed the sounds to where Jetson, Connor and Cass were sprawled out in front of a laptop in the middle of the living room.
Cass was a new addition in my life. She worked with Connor at least until she got fired a few weeks ago. But her and Connor had formed enough of a friendship that it wasn't uncommon to see her hanging around.
"You don't deserve the laptop anymore. You're being too picky." Connor responded to her.
"Too picky? I'm sorry I don't want to be bored to death answering phones all day."
"But it pays good." Jetson pointed to something on the screen.
"Then maybe you should apply."
"I would but I'm not the one that got fired." Jet shot back.
"Whatever it totally wasn't my fault." Cass reached over snatching the laptop back.
"Not your fault? You threw a two liter soda at a customer."
I felt something relax in my chest. Being here was what I needed.
"He totally deserved it, I'd do it again." She waved the couple off.
"I agree with that." I said dropping onto the floor next to Cass.
None of them even blinked at my appearance. It was like they just expected I'd show up at some point. It made me feel like I had a place I belonged. It'd been awhile since I had that feeling.
"There's food in the kitchen if you're hungry." Connor said to me.
"Thanks." I got up and went to get myself a plate before I went back to helping them find Cass a new job.
It'd been a long process over the past week and so far she was still unemployed. I think Connor was more interested in finding postings that he knew she'd hate just so he could complain that she was being too picky. Luckily she had me and Jetson who have actually helped her find things she would be good at. She's sent out two applications but haven't heard anything from either so we're still on the hunt.
I was ready for another long evening filled of jokes and bickering. This chaos was better than the silence at home.
After a few hours Connor was basically kicking us out. I couldn't be mad about it because I could see Jetson trying to hide his yawns as he leaned into his boyfriend. Cass never seemed to know when to leave so on my way out I grabbed her arm and dragged her out with me.
"I'll text you if I hear about any of the jobs." She said.
"If I have time I'll send you some more postings." I offered.
In a silent house it was nice to have something to do.
"I'm so sick of job hunting, it's fucking exhausting. You want to get coffee in the morning and talk about anything but jobs?" She asked.
"I have to work." I said apologetically.
"Fuck jobs, fuck my life and fuck you." She ranted.
"Bye Cass." I laughed as she stomped to her car.
She was loud and kinda ridiculous sometimes but she tended to put a smile on my face so I never complained.
It was a short drive home and when I stepped inside it wasn't a surprise that the house was dark and quiet. Ronan had probably shut himself up in his room by now. I knew he wasn't sleeping yet but still I tried to be as quiet as I could as I walked through the house.
I walked into the kitchen to see everything from dinner was cleaned up. Everything but a plate on the counter covered in tinfoil.
My heart twisted in my chest. I felt guilt and a little bit of regret for not being able to stay. Ronan had made up a plate for me. I pushed the uneasy feeling down and grabbed the plate and when I lifted the foil I just felt worse.
It wasn't pepperoni on the plate but sausage and pepper pizza, my favorite. Ronan hadn't just made up a plate for me, he'd ordered my favorite pizza for me.
I covered the plate again and placed it in the fridge for tomorrow.
I ignored all the feelings twisting up inside me. I'd deal with it all tomorrow.
A/n:
This is your first introduction to Reid. I'm super excited about starting this new project. I've been dealing with some stuff in my personal life that hasn't been great but this book has been a nice escape for me so far. I'm going to try to keep up with my writing and get new chapters to you out each week.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter! And here's a peak at what some of these new characters look like to me.
-cora Leigh